.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE! it was generated by rd2
.TH rdict 1 "May 2007"
.SH NAME
.PP
rdict \- a DICT protocol client
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
\&    rdict [\-h|\-\-host server] [\-p|\-\-port service] [\-d|\-\-database dbname]
\&          [\-m|\-\-match] [\-s|\-\-strategy strategy] [\-C|\-\-nocorrect]
\&          [\-D|\-\-dbs] [\-S|\-\-strats] [\-H|\-\-serverhelp] [\-i|\-\-info dbname]
\&          [\-I|\-\-serverinfo] [\-T|\-\-status] [\-b|\-\-debug] [\-u|\-\-user user]
\&          [\-k|\-\-key key] [\-v|\-\-verbose] word1 [word2 ... wordn]
\&    rdict [\-\-help|\-v|\-\-version]
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
rdict is an RFC 2229 compliant
Dictionary Server Protocol (DICT) client that provides access to dictionary
definitions from a set of natural language dictionary databases.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.fi
.B
\-h \fIserver\fP or \-\-host \fIserver\fP
Specifies the hostname for the DICT server. If no servers are specified,
the default behavior is to try dict.org, followed by alt0.dict.org.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-p \fIport\fP or \-\-port \fIport\fP
Specifies the port (e.g. 2628) or service (e.g. dict) for connections.
The default is 2628, as specified in the DICT Protocol RFC.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-d \fIdbname\fP or \-\-database \fIdbname\fP
Specifies a specific database to search. The default is to search all
databases (a '*' from the DICT protocol). Note that a '!' in the DICT
protocol means to search all of the databases until a match is found, and
then stop searching.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-m or \-\-match
Instead of printing a definition, perform a match using the specified
strategy.
.TP
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.B
\-s \fIstrategy\fP or \-\-strategy \fIstrategy\fP
Specify a matching strategy. By default, the server default match strategy
is used. This is usually 'exact' for definitions, and a server\-defined
optimal spelling correction strategy for matches ('.' from the DICT
protocol). The available strategies are dependent on the server
implementation. For a list of available strategies, see the \-S or \-\-strats
option.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-C or \-\-nocorrect
Usually, if a definition is requested and the word cannot be found, spelling
correction is requested from the server, and a list of possible words are
provided. This option disables the generation of this list.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-D or \-\-dbs
Query the server and display a list of available databases.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-S or \-\-strats
Query the server and display a list of available search strategies.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-H or \-\-serverhelp
Query the server and display the help information that it provides.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-i \fIdbname\fP or \-\-info \fIdbname\fP
Request information on the specified database (usually the server will
provide origination, descriptive or other information about the database or
its contents).
.TP
.fi
.B
\-I or \-\-serverinfo
Query the server and display information about the server.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-T or \-\-status
Query the server for status information.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-u \fIuser\fP or \-\-user \fIuser\fP
Specifies the username for authentication.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-k \fIkey\fP or \-\-key \fIkey\fP
Specifies the shared secret for authentication.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-V or \-\-version
Display version information.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-\-help
Display help information.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-v or \-\-verbose
Be verbose.
.TP
.fi
.B
\-b or \-\-debug
Display debugging information. This is long\-winded, as the entire protocol
exchange will be dumped.
.SH EXAMPLES
.TP
.fi
.B
$ rdict \-D
This will provide you with a list of databases you can query.
.TP
.fi
.B
$ rdict \-S
This will provide you with a list of strategies you can employ to match
words.
.TP
.fi
.B
$ rdict \-m \-s prefix foo
This shows you a list of all words that begin with 'foo' in all of the
databases.
.TP
.fi
.B
$ rdict \-s re '^(cu|ke)rb$'
This shows you all the definitions relating to both 'curb' and 'kerb' from
all the databases. The 're' strategy allows regular expression matching.
.TP
.fi
.B
$ rdict \-m \-s suffix fix
This shows a list of all words that end in 'fix' in all of the databases.
.TP
.fi
.B
$ rdict \-d jargon \-m \-s prefix ''
This displays a list of all the entries in the 'jargon' database.
.SH AUTHOR
.PP
Written by Ian Macdonald <ian@caliban.org>
.SH COPYRIGHT
.nf
\&    Copyright (C) 2002\-2007 Ian Macdonald
\&    
\&    This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
\&    There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
\&    FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
.fi
.SH SEE ALSO
.IP
.B
\(bu
Ruby/DICT home page \- http://www.caliban.org/ruby/
.IP
.B
\(bu
dict(3)
.IP
.B
\(bu
The DICT development group \- http://www.dict.org/
.IP
.B
\(bu
RFC 2229 \- ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in\-notes/rfc2229.txt
.SH BUGS
.IP
.B
\(bu
MIME is not implemented
.IP
.B
\(bu
command pipelining is not implemented
.IP
.B
\(bu
URL parsing is not implemented